Lifeways Community Care (New Barnet)

Updated 10 April 2021

The inspection

This was a targeted inspection to check on the specific concern we had about infection control. We will assess all of the key question at the next comprehensive inspection of the service.

Inspection team

This inspection was undertaken by one inspector.

Service and service type

Lifeways Community Care (New Barnet) is a domiciliary care agency providing support to people with learning disabilities, acquired brain injuries, physical disabilities, autism and mental health needs who live in their own home or within supported living schemes. At the time of the inspection the service was supporting 12 people with their personal care..

The service had a manager registered with the Care Quality Commission. This means that they and the provider are legally responsible for how the service is run and for the quality and safety of the care provided.

Notice of inspection

This inspection was announced. We gave the service 24 hours’ notice of the inspection visit because we needed to know that the registered manager would be available to support the inspection process.

What we did before the inspection

We reviewed information we had received about the service since the last inspection. We sought feedback from the local authority and professionals who work with the service. The provider was not asked to complete a provider information return prior to this inspection. This is information we require providers to send us to give some key information about the service, what the service does well and improvements they plan to make. We took this into account when we inspected the service and made the judgements in this report.

During the inspection we visited the registered office and spoke with the registered manager.

After the inspection

We continued to seek clarification from the settings managers to validate evidence found. We reviewed the providers infection prevention and control policy, infection control audits and other documentation related to the management of COVID-19 risks.

Updated 10 April 2021

About the service: Lifeways Community Care (New Barnet) is a domiciliary care service. It provides personal care to people living in their own flats within a supported living scheme as well as people living in their own homes in the community. The service supports people with learning disabilities, acquired brain injuries, physical disabilities, autism and mental health. The service was supporting 15 people at the time of the inspection.

People’s experience of using this service: During the inspection we observed people and the way in which they were supported. People knew the support staff that supported them and were seen to be at ease and comfortable in their presence.

Support staff knew people well. We saw support staff communicate and respond to people using ways and methods which people understood, especially where some people were non-verbal.

Relatives told us that their relative was safe and supported appropriately by support staff. Care provision was good and people were supported to access the community and participate in activities as they wished.

Risk assessments in place were comprehensive and person centred. Assessments provided clear guidance and information to support staff on how to minimise identified risks and keep people safe.

People received their medicines safely and as prescribed. Policies in place supported this.

All staff recruited to work for Lifeways Community Care (New Barnet) had been assessed as safe to work with vulnerable people.

People's capacity to make day-to-day decisions had been considered and assessed and the provider was working within the requirements of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards.

We saw that there were sufficient numbers of staff available to meet people’s assessed needs.

Care plans were person centred and gave comprehensive information about the person, their needs and how they wished to be supported.

People were appropriately supported with their meals and where specialist dietary support was required this had been clearly documented. Support staff knew about people’s specialist needs and supported them accordingly.

Support staff told us that they were supported well in their roles. Records confirmed that support staff received regular training, supervision and annual appraisals.

Complaints were investigated and responded to according to the providers policy.

Management oversight process in place monitored the quality of care people received. Issues and concerns were identified and addressed with details of the actions taken recorded as part of the service’s ongoing improvement plan.

Rating at last inspection: Requires Improvement (Report published 1 May 2018).

Why we inspected: This was a planned inspection based on the rating at the last inspection. At the last inspection we found areas of concern around staffing provision, safety risks associated with people’s eating and drinking needs, medicines administration and management, supporting people to access activities and ineffective management oversight processes. At this inspection we found that improvements had been made to all areas of concern that we had noted. All breaches in regulations had been met.

Follow up: We will continue to monitor intelligence we receive about the service until we return to visit as per our re-inspection programme. If any concerning information is received we may inspect sooner.

For more details, please see the full report which is on the CQC website at www.cqc.org.uk